View full sizeDennis Nett / The Post-StandardRyan Brahney 39, is led by Auburn police to a waiting patrol car after his arraignment Monday in the stabbing death of his girlfriend.

Auburn, NY –An Auburn man is accused of fatally stabbing his former girlfriend while their 3-year-old son lay sleeping unharmed in an upstairs bedroom, Auburn police said this morning.

Ryan P. Brahney, 39, of 128 VanAnden St., faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and first-degree criminal contempt. All of the charges are felonies.

He was arraigned this morning in Cayuga County Court.

Here’s what police said happened:

At about 1:16 a.m., the Cayuga County 911 Center received a call to check the welfare of the person at 115 Olympia Terrace Apartments. Police were sent to the apartment complex, as well as the 128 VanAnden St., the location where the call was made.

Officers arriving at Olympia Terrace found signs that someone had broken into the apartment. They found the resident, Bridget L. Bell, 29, dead of numerous stab wounds.

Officers searching the apartment also found Bell’s three-year-old son asleep and unharmed in an upstairs bedroom.

When officers arrived at 128 VanAnden St., they found Brahney, who is Bell’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her three-year-old son.

Ryan P. Brahney

The investigation quickly progressed, and officers took Brahney into custody charging him with murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal contempt for violating an order of protection that was issued by the Cayuga County Court in August.
Anyone with information is asked to call Auburn Police at 253-3231 or lead investigators Det. Douglas Parker at 255-4726 or Det. Kyle Platt at 255-4702.